Ten steps to salvation

Okay, now I know where you are coming from.

Here's some observtions in my personal walk and observing the walk of others:

We are called by God to walk in the Spirit and knowing this we come to realize self is our worst enemy. If we are born again and seeking to walk in His ways and follow His teachings, our conscience becomes honed and sharpened to be wary of sinning against a holy God.

But if self gets in the way - now I'm still talking about a born-again Christian, and that person begins to walk in sin, he/she will say things like "I'm not perfect", or "But we all sin, don't we?" showing that guilt is there but he/she is making excuses for their conduct. When such persons continue in their sin they become hardened and no longer make excuses, and they fall away from the faith.

That's why examining oneself daily is so important and comparing it with the Ten Commandments and the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, such as "Am I making anyone an idol" or "Do I really need to buy this?" (re covetousness).

If we have temptations, we take those to the Lord to handle, and seek to keep our mind off of them. It's not an easy walk but with practice it becomes a habit and with it is wonderful freedom from sin so you are no longer held captive to it.

Okay, now I know where you are coming from.

Here's some observtions in my personal walk and observing the walk of others:

We are called by God to walk in the Spirit and knowing this we come to realize self is our worst enemy. If we are born again and seeking to walk in His ways and follow His teachings, our conscience becomes honed and sharpened to be wary of sinning against a holy God.

But if self gets in the way - now I'm still talking about a born-again Christian, and that person begins to walk in sin, he/she will say things like "I'm not perfect", or "But we all sin, don't we?" showing that guilt is there but he/she is making excuses for their conduct. When such persons continue in their sin they become hardened and no longer make excuses, and they fall away from the faith.

That's why examining oneself daily is so important and comparing it with the Ten Commandments and the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, such as "Am I making anyone an idol" or "Do I really need to buy this?" (re covetousness).

If we have temptations, we take those to the Lord to handle, and seek to keep our mind off of them. It's not an easy walk but with practice it becomes a habit and with it is wonderful freedom from sin so you are no longer held captive to it.


Yes, I agree.

Personally, I found this particular response to be very well said and an effective exposition.



IMO,

When Christ was pinned to the tree, sin was pinned to the tree.

Christ became sin.

Therefore, although sin can yell and scream at us from the tree, it cannot come down off the tree and "get" us.

That, and we can walk away from that sin freely now because of Jesus' strength and help by His Holy Spirit.


Further, I believe that Christ conquered death and Hell through His resurrection.

Our old man was crucified with Christ and is now dead.

We are a new creation with a new spirit.

That of Christ Jesus.


We now fight from victory, not for victory.

Sin no longer has dominion over us.
(Although we do sin. It just cannot have victory over us if we remain in Christ.)

But we still very much need God's mercy in this present and flawed state.


Is this how you see it?

Pretty much. You have good understanding.

About the old man, Romans chapter 6 could be an interesting study.

1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.


I had a personal experience one day concerning the old man about three years ago. I had spent considerable days during that time confessing every known sin and filial sin of my parents which tends to be passed on to the next generation. Then one day while I knelt in prayer, I was given a vision of a little old man (2-3') with a long mustache, departing from my spirit, and I knew that was the old man. Yet I was born again many years before this. So that taught me that God very much values repentance.

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